Check protector



Dec. 17, 1963 c. E. LAUE 3,114,312

CHECK PROTECTOR Filed June 2'7, 1960 PAY TO THE ORDER or 10 llflllilihnu NATIONAL BANK United States Patent Oflice 3,114,312 Patented Dec. 17, 1963 3,114,312 CHECK PROTECTOR Charles E. Laue, Arlington Heights, 111., assignor to Charles E. Laue and Gladys M. Laue, trustees Filed June 27, 1960, Ser. No. 38,961 2 Claims. (Cl. 101-24) This invention relates to the protection of checks by mutilation of the check paper in the area where the written sum appears. More particularly, the invention relates to mutilation of the check paper by a roller moved along the check lengthwise thereof and over the written sum.

Numerous prior art devices have been proposed for protecting checks by a mutilating roller with and Without an associated pad for inking the roller as it rotates; however a primary disadvantage of such prior art devices has been the great difiiculty in moving the roller along a straight path. In order to overcome this difficulty, some prior art arrangements have utilized elaborate, expensive, and impractical guides such as that shown in US. Letters Patent No. 857,618, issued June 25, 1907 to Gritlin; and other prior art arrangements have utilized special tracks such as that shown in US. Letters Patent No. 1,452,674, issued April 23, 1923 to Barnes. These tracks not only require precise alignment of the track and roller with the Written sum on the check but also interrupt the mutilating area of the roller and fail to positively achieve the desired result due to tendency of the roller to run off the track. Moreover, in such prior art arrangements, the roller and track must be mated at a point beyond one end of the check.

Another disadvantage of such prior art devices has been their inadequacy to effect mutilation of the check paper in a clearly visible manner which would absolutely discourage any attempt to alter the check.

Accordingly, a primary object of the invention has been to devise a novel method and means for protecting checks by a roller in the form of a male or female pinion and a plate beneath the check in the form of a mating rack to ensure straight line movement of the roller and to avoid the necessity for mating the pinion and plate at a point beyond one end of the check.

Another object of the invention is to provide the plate with a rack much wider than the space on the check for the written sum so that the plate can be forced between two leaves of a check book toward the binding thereof until the plate is clamped by the leaves in a position with the rack parallel to said space, whereupon the user mates the pinion roller with the said end of the rack and then draws the pinion roller over said space under sufficient pressure to maintain the rack and pinion in mated relationship whereby the pinion mutilates the check paper in said space and travels in an absolutely straight line.

Another object of the invention is to devise a female pinion roller with sockets and a plate having a rack with mating teeth for the sockets so that the teeth mutilate the check paper by forming therein upwardly extending indentations which are clearly visible upon even a casual inspection of the check, whereby any thought of altering the check is quickly dispelled.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a reversible plate in which the teeth project from one side thereof and contain sockets in the opposite side of the plate whereby a female pinion roller can be mated with the teeth when the plate rests on one side thereof as heretofore described, and the sockets in the teeth can be mated with a male pinion roller when the plate rests on its opposite side.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following specification and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a check book and a check protector embodying a preferred form of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view on line 22 of FIG- URE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary enlarged perspective view of the rack plate shown in FIGURES 1 and 2;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view comparable to FIGURE 2 but showing the rack plate turned upside down with a modified roller; and

FIGURE 5 is a view comparable to FIGURE 3 but showing a modified rack plate for use with a female pinion roller such as that shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.

Describing the invention in detail and referring first to FIGURE 1, a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown wherein a backing plate 2 is inserted beneath the top leaf 3 of a checkbook. The top check 4 is attached in the usual manner to the leaf 3 by a perforated portion 5. The leaves 3 are interconnected in the usual manner by a binding 6 attached to the leaves 3 as by adhesive and by a plurality of staples 7 passing through the leaves 3.

The backing plate 2 may be formed of any desired material such as metal, rubber, or plastic, and as best seen in FIGURES 2 and 3 is preferably indented to form a plurality of projections or teeth 10 arranged in rows extending transversely of the plate 2. The teeth of each row are equidistantly spaced from each other, and the rows are equidistantly spaced from each other. The teeth are pyramidal in form, but the apex of each tooth is interrupted by an opening 11 which communicates with a pyramidal socket 12 within the tooth.

The backing plate is reversible, as hereinafter described, but in the preferred embodiment of the invention is positioned with the teeth 10 projecting upwardly and, if desired, extending beyond the left end of the check 4. A roller 14 is pivoted as by a pin 16 to spaced ears 17 on one end of a stem 18, the opposite end of which is preferably a ball-point pen 20. The roller comprises sockets 22 arranged in rows extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the pin 16 which is the rotational axis of the roller 14. Each socket is preferably pyramidal in crosssection and is adapted to mate with each tooth It The sockets of each row are spaced from each other the same distance apart as the teeth of each row, and the rows of sockets are spaced from each other the same distance as the rows of teeth, so that the teeth 10 and roller 14 function in the manner of a male rack and female pinion respectively.

In the practice of the invention with the backing plate in the position of FIGURE 1 and with the check com pleted and signed, the user mates the sockets 22 of the roller 14 with the teeth 10 (FIGURE 1) in alignment with the sum of money written on the check. The roller 14 is then pressed against the plate and simultaneously is pulled toward the right end of the check pressing the check 4 and the teeth 10 into the sockets as the roller moves to the right end of the check. The mating of the teeth 10 and sockets 22 causes the roller 14 to track in a straight line and to create a row of upwardly projecting indentations 24 across the written sum of money on the check, whereby alteration of said sum is clearly impossible. The indentations are perforated at their peaks by the upper ends of the rack teeth 10.

Inasmuch as the plate 2 has been forced as far as possible into the binding 6, the leaves 3 clamp the plate in the position of FIGURE 1 with the rack 10, 10 parallel to the space provided on the check for the sum of money written thereon.

It should be noted that the rack 10, 10 is much wider than the roller 14 which is substantially the same width as a standard space provided on the check for said sum of money to be written thereon. This accommodates various designs of checks wherein the written sum is higher or lower on some checks than on others, thereby avoiding the necessity of precisely aligning the rack 10, 10 with the roller and with said space. In other words, the pinion can be mated with the rack in any one of a plurality of positions transversely of the rack and in alignment with said space.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 4, the plate 2 is turned upside down from the position of FIGURE 1, so that the sockets define a female rack. In this embodiment the roller is provided with pyramidal teeth 24 in place of the sockets 22 of FIGURES 1 and 2. Thus the roller constitutes a male pinion which is operated in the manner described in connection with FIGURES 1 and 2. The protected check of FIGURE 4 is mutilated in the manner of FIGURES 1 and 2 except that indentations 26 of the check extend downwardly instead of upwardly as in FIG- URES 1 and 2.

Referring now to FIGURE 5 a modified plate 2a is shown wherein the teeth 10a are entirely pyramidal and the apertures 11 are eliminated. Plate 211 is formed of molded plastic and is preferably smooth on the bottom thus eliminating the feature of reversability of the plate 2; however the teeth 10a of plate 2a in conjunction with sockets 22 of the roller 14 shown in FIGURES 1 and 2 create unusually visible indentations 26 in the check 4.

What is claimed is:

1. In a device for protecting checks in a check book having a stack of checks bound together along corresponding sides thereof, a thin flat elongated plate adapted to be inserted between a check at the top of said stack and a check beneath the first-mentioned check, said plate hav- 4 ing one lateral edge tightly wedged between the first-men- .tioned check and the second-mentioned check at the bound sides thereof, a plurality of equally spaced, parallel, straight-line rows of mutilating means on a portion of said plate adapted to be inserted beneath a space on said top check to be mutilated, the mutilating means of each row being equally spaced from each other, and a roller having a plurality of spaced parallel rows of mutilating means formed and arranged to mate in a rack and pinion relationship with the rows of mutilating means on the plate to guide the roller in a straight line when pressed into mating engagement with the plate with the check mutilated therebetween, the mating portions providing straight line control, said roller having fewer mutilating means than said portion of the plate whereby the roller mutilating means may be mated with said plate mutilating means in a selected position in alignment with said space on said check to be mutilated, and handle means on said roller for rolling it across said space.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein the mutilating means of the plate are male and the mutilating means of the roller are female.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 106,963 Rogers Aug. 30, 1870 334,477 Schmidt Jan. 19, 1886 1,288,896 Houseman Dec. 24, 1918 1,401,168 McAllister Dec. 27, 1921 1,715,383 Person June 4, 1929 1,842,907 Lawhorn Jan. 26, 1932 2,149,052 Heller Feb. 28, 1939 2,442,567 Jesseph June 1, 1948 2,596,059 Waller May 6, 1952 

1. IN A DEVICE FOR PROTECTING CHECKS IN A CHECK BOOK HAVING A STACK OF CHECKS BOUND TOGETHER ALONG CORRESPONDING SIDES THEREOF, A THIN FLAT ELONGATED PLATE ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED BETWEEN A CHECK AT THE TOP OF SAID STACK AND A CHECK BENEATH THE FIRST-MENTIONED CHECK, SAID PLATE HAVING ONE LATERAL EDGE TIGHTLY WEDGED BETWEEN THE FIRST-MENTIONED CHECK AND THE SECOND-MENTIONED CHECK AT THE BOUND SIDES THEREOF, A PLURALITY OF EQUALLY SPACED, PARALLEL, STRAIGHT-LINE ROWS OF MUTILATING MEANS ON A PORTION OF SAID PLATE ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED BENEATH A SPACE ON SAID TOP CHECK TO BE MUTILATED, THE MUTILATING MEANS OF EACH ROW BEING EQUALLY SPACED FROM EACH OTHER, AND A ROLLER HAVING A PLURALITY OF SPACED PARALLEL ROWS OF MUTILATING MEANS FORMED AND ARRANGED TO MATE IN A RACK AND PINION RELATIONSHIP WITH THE ROWS OF MUTILATING MEANS ON THE PLATE TO GUIDE THE ROLLER IN A STRAIGHT LINE WHEN PRESSED INTO MATING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PLATE WITH THE CHECK MUTILATED THEREBETWEEN, THE MATING PORTIONS PROVIDING STRAIGHT LINE CONTROL, SAID ROLLER HAVING FEWER MUTILATING MEANS THAN SAID PORTION OF THE PLATE WHEREBY THE ROLLER MUTILATING MEANS MAY BE MATED WITH SAID PLATE MUTILATING MEANS IN A SELECTED POSITION IN ALIGNMENT WITH SAID SPACE ON SAID CHECK TO BE MUTILATED, AND HANDLE MEANS ON SAID ROLLER FOR ROLLING IT ACROSS SAID SPACE. 